Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock feared he was about to be shoved down a Tube escalator during a confrontation with an anti-vaccine protestor, a court has heard.
The MP for West Suffolk claims he was harassed by Geza Tarjanyi, 63, during two incidents in January, when he was pursued on his walk towards Parliament and as he took a London Underground train.
Giving evidence, Mr Hancock said he had just finished breakfast in Downing Street with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on January 24 when he was pursued by Tarjanyi.
He said he recognised the man from an incident five days earlier, when he says Tarjanyi “shoulder-barged” him on a walk to Parliament while “persistently” shouting questions and accusations.
Videos were played to the court, showing Tarjanyi in the first incident accusing Mr Hancock of “murdering” people as the MP walked down the street.
After Mr Hancock enters the Parliamentary estate, Tarjanyi can be heard calling him a “murdering scumbag” and suggesting he and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been “murdering people withe vaccines”.
Mr Hancock said both incidents left him feeling intimidated and in fear, and he accused Tarjanyi of “shoving” him during the second incident as they went into Westminster tube station.
“I’m trying to get on to the escalator, to get away from him, and he was now having a go at the person who had come to my aid”, he said.
“At this stage, I didn’t know what I was going to do to get away from him.
“I felt extremely intimidated, I also felt the behaviour was outrageous.”
He said Tarjanyi had accused him of “murdering millions of people”, repeated a conspiracy theory popular with anti-vaxxers about a US drug, and allegedly shouted at him repeatedly before they reached the station.
“The man pushed into me, and I felt myself being pushed towards the top of the escalator”, the MP said.
“Obviously I was extremely worried at this time. If I had lost my balance at that point, I would have tumbled down the escalator. It’s a long escalator, I could see a long escalator moving away from me, and I was being pushed from behind.
“I had to work to maintain my balance and stop myself falling down the escalator.”
Tarjanyi is accused of haranguing Mr Hancock during the short Tube ride to Bond Street, when the MP was accompanied by a Transport for London worker to safety.
“He carried on shouting at me and members of the public, it was quite a packed train, and members of the public on the train tried to pursuade him to desist”, said Mr Hancock.
“I felt intimidated.”
He said Tarjanyi was heard saying “I’ve been arrested 16 times and I want to go to court”, and Mr Hancock told the court: “This made me alarmed.
“If you have been to court before, you would be prepared to commit a crime in order to get there. That obviously made me feel unsafe.”
Mr Hancock said he is aware of a “haphazard” protest camp in Whitehall, believing it to be occupied by conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.
He said their views are “ridiculous”, and told the court he is anxious not to help them gain extra publicity.
“I didn’t want to encourage people to harass me, and I didn’t want conspiracy theories to get further traction as they are wholly inaccurate.
“By this stage, I knew the man in question was prepared to do what it takes to end up in court. It puts you in a very difficult position as a public figure.”
In the video of the Tube station incident Tarjanyi mentions the drug hydroxychloroquine, which Mr Hancock said was another indicator that the man shouting at him was a conspiracy theorist.
“It was thought by some people that hydroxychloroquine would cure you from Covid, or help if you caught Covid”, he said.
“There were a number of people who didn’t rely on the scientific evidence, including President Donald Trump. It (hydroxychloroquine) was then tested in a scientific, rigorous clinical trial in the UK and the results were found it had no impact on the treatment of Covid.”
He told the court he is regularly stopped by the public for selfies, questions, and polite conversation, but said of Tarjanyi: “This felt materially different from normal interactions with the public.”
He added: “In my time as a public figure, I can’t recall a time when I felt as intimidated as this.”
In the Tube train incident, Tarjanyi mentioned Mr Hancock’s recent stint on I’m a Celebrity....Get Me Out Of Here”, and shouts: “You are a celebrity? Get you in prison.”
Tarjanyi is also heard calling a TfL worker “an idiot” and being told by Tube passengers to stop shouting.
Parveen Mansoor, defending, said Tarjanyi denies any physical contact and believes it was Mr Hancock who “barged into him”.
She added: “He denies assaulting him in any way shape or form.”
Ms Mansoor suggested Mr Hancock had not been pushed during the incidents, arguing the defendant merely walked into him after he stopped.
“Oh please”, replied Mr Hancock. “The idea that it was my fault he walked into me is ridiculous.”
Ms Mansoor went on: “You exaggerated what happened on both of these occasions either to get sympathy or to stop Mr Tarjanyi saying what he wished to say.”
The MP told the court: “I wouldn’t make such an accusation lightly, and I certainly wouldn’t if it was untrue.”
Tarjanyi, from Leyland in Lancashire, filmed himself in the two interactions with Mr Hancock, and denies the charge of harassment.
He says there was no deliberate physical contact, he accuses Mr Hancock of barging into him, and he denies his behaviour amounted to harassment.
The court heard he says he is a journalist who was exercising his rights to question a public figure.
The trial has been adjourned until July 4.
